MMIS/MCIS 671 - CE1   Decision Support Systems (3 credits)
Fall 2009 - August 24, 2009 - December 13, 2009, Online
 

Send me all correspondence to levyy@nova.edu. When sending me e-mail, please make sure to:

• Send me e-mail from your NSU e-mail address ONLY -- this is GSCIS policy! (Also note that e-mails sent from non-NSU e-mail address maybe detected as spam and will not be received or answered!)

• Type "MCIS-671" or "MMIS-671" in the subject line.

• Type your full name in the message.

• Type your WebCT username in the message.

• Type your NSU e-mail address in the message.

• When sending issues about group work, please clearly indicate the group letter you're in.

E-mails will be usually answered three times a week (Mon, Wed, and Fri) during morning or afternoon time, although I might answer you even before or during other times. If I'm out of town, you will get an automated respond and I will answer it when I get back or have access to the Internet from that location. 

    This course examines concepts of decision support in both automated and non-automated environments. The focus is on application of decision theory, analytical modeling, and simulation techniques to solve organizational problems. Group Decision Support Systems, Executive Information Systems, and Expert Systems are also discussed. Case studies of existing systems are used to reinforce concepts discussed in class. A major component of the course is a project entailing the design, implementation, and evaluation of a Decision Support System. Emphasis is placed on the technical aspects of decision support systems.

    IS is an extremely exciting field. By all means, to get the most out of this course, strive to have fun, both when participating in class and when working on assignments. I think and hope that you will enjoy it.

The goal of this course is to provide the student with an understanding of the fundamentals behind decision support systems (DSSs). Students completing this course will have:

• A working understanding of decision support systems and expert systems in organizations.
• Skills required to apply decision theory and other management science techniques to analyze problems.
• The ability to formulate and use analytical models for organizational problem solving.
• The ability to design and develop decision support systems and expert systems.

This course will utilize WebCT as the delivery tool. Assignments, WSJ summaries, and class discussions will take place in the WebCT site assigned to this course.

There will be two major assignments and three minor assignments in this course. The major assignments includes Assignment No. 1 and Assignment No. 2, while the three minor assignments include summaries of technology related articles from the Wall Street Journal. Assignment No. 1 will have more managerial flavor to it and will include the a project outline for a decision support system or an expert system. Assignment No. 2 will have more quantitative nature to it and will include development of a prototype decision support system based on specified requirements provided. Additional information on each assignment is provided under the assignment guidelines in the "Course Content" section of the course's WebCT site.

During weeks 6, 8, and 12 each student (or each group of two students) will submit a WSJ summary  mini-assignment. In this WSJ summary mini-assignment, you will need to:

• Find a major article on decision support systems, information technology, or related subject from the Wall Street Journal (Only!) in the past 5 years

• Write a 4-5 sentence summary about the article (In your own words!!!). 

• Make sure to include title page that includes: Assignment Name/Topic and Number, Class Name and Number, Professor's name, Student Name, Due date, article title, author(s) of the article, date, page/section appeared (i.e. B7).

• Make sure to provide the APA reference of the article summarized. See "APA Reference Notation for WSJ Summaries" page under course content for specifications.

• Certificate of Authorship (Individual or group)

• You will need to upload the summaries as MS Word document to the WebCT e-Drop-box.
• Please name the files you upload to WebCT e-Dropbox in the following way: LastName_WSJ_No.doc (for groups use GroupX_WSJ_No.doc format)
  So for example for John Doe submitting WSJ#1 the filename should be: "Doe_WSJ_1.doc"
• Summaries are due by 11:55pm on Sunday of the due week. 
• Upload the summaries to the WebCT e-Dropbox.

There will be seven (7) quizzes throughout the semester. Quizzes will be based on the textbook reading of the corresponding chapters. See "Course Outline & Calendar" for additional information. The quizzes will be done via WebCT and will be available for students seven (7) days (Monday to Sunday). No makeup will be allowed on quizzes. However, only the top five (5) quizzes will be counted towards the final grade.

Grading Scale:

• Mutual respect and courtesy.
• Professional quality in the organization, completeness, neatness, and timeliness of any material submitted will be expected.
• Late assignments will not be accepted! However, the professor realizes that exceptional situations (such as justified emergencies or medical situations) do occur. In such cases, please inform your professor via e-mail to obtain special permission for late submission, prior to the deadline.
• A student may not do additional work or repeat an examination to raise a final grade.
• All papers and assignments should include a certificate of authorship signed by the student.
• The professor is not obligated to communicate with students via e-mail or telephone about the course or assignments after final grades have been submitted. However, official Challenge of Course Grade and Student Grievance Procedure, as outlined in the graduate catalog, will be processed.
• Students should be aware that any submitted work for this course may be subjected to detection of breach of copyright.

Although some sections above are parts of this course's syllabus, this is not the course syllabus. The purpose of this page is to allow students and prospective students to gain understanding on the nature of this course and the professor. The course syllabus will be provided via WebCT and will be available for all students who register for this course.

Looking forward seeing you in my class!

	Yair Levy, Ph.D. (levyy@nova.edu) Associate Professor Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences Nova Southeastern University Copyright ©  - Yair Levy, all rights reserved worldwide.